


pull me close and kiss me again

by Padraigen



Category: Cobra Kai (Web Series), Karate Kid (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Beginning of a Beautiful Friendship, First Kiss, Fluff and Humor, M/M, and more - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-17 13:14:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29472276
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Padraigen/pseuds/Padraigen
Summary: Johnny gets stood up. Daniel really could not care less.Really.
Relationships: Daniel LaRusso/Johnny Lawrence
Comments: 26
Kudos: 114





	pull me close and kiss me again

**Author's Note:**

> this fic takes place at some vague point in season two or three, reader's choice. this is my first foray into cobra kai fic, so i hope you'll enjoy!

Daniel is ordering—“No, thank you, water is fine.”—when he looks up and notices Johnny Lawrence sitting in a booth in an isolated corner by the window. He has to do a double-take, to make sure it’s really him, because Johnny’s dressed in a button-up that looks like it might have actually been ironed before he put it on, sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and his jeans look new, still a nice dark blue.

He looks like he’s dressed for a date, but when Daniel looks over again he doesn’t see anyone with him.

This observation takes all of three seconds, and Daniel forgets about him almost immediately after when the man to his right calls for his attention. He’s not just here for lunch, after all, this is a business meeting and Amanda’s look just before he left for the restaurant that clearly said _Don’t screw this up_ is still flashing in his mind’s eye.

He won’t. He’s got this. He promised he could balance the karate thing and the dealership—which, yes, he messed up before, but this time he’s going to make it work—and he will.

So he forgets Johnny, or he tries to—really, _really_ hard—but the thing is when he looks up again, like, an entire four minutes later, Johnny is still just _sitting_ there. Alone. And Daniel’s never been strong enough to just let well enough alone, not where Johnny Lawrence is concerned, so he doesn’t really forget Johnny is there at all. It would be kind of impossible when Daniel keeps glancing up at him every five minutes to… well, he’s not really sure what he’s doing, what he’s waiting for, or why he even cares what Johnny does, but… Yeah.

Point is, he should probably be paying more attention to what is happening at his own table—and he _is_. At the very least, that’s what he’s gonna tell Amanda—but, well… Johnny.

It’s always fucking Johnny.

Daniel is ashamed to realize after the fifth time he looks up that he doesn’t even have an excuse for the fixation. Not this time. Johnny is minding his own business, and Daniel doesn’t think he’s even realized he is there, just a few tables over. So. But.

At some point Daniel looks at his watch and sees it’s been forty-five minutes, and all at once it feels like the time has flown by and also like it’s been absolute ages. Johnny is nursing his second beer—Daniel watched him order a new one, and there are two crazy things about that; one, that he is only on his second, and two, that it didn’t appear he’d even finished his _first_.

Johnny keeps glancing up at the door whenever it opens, as if he’s expecting someone. And every time it’s not who he wants to see, his shoulders slump a little bit further.

And Daniel— he doesn’t care. _Really_ , he doesn’t. If Johnny got stood up, then he probably had it coming. There is no one on earth who deserves it more, honestly. Except—

All right, so maybe Daniel doesn’t really believe that. Still.

He doesn’t care. Johnny can be a sad sap as loudly as he likes, and Daniel _will not care_. He won’t. Except—

He isn’t loud about it. In fact, if this were a Friday night and Johnny was sitting at the bar and not in a booth, nothing would be visibly out of the ordinary (barring the two beers, of course, but even then, that could be explained away if it was early on in the evening).

But it’s not a Friday night, it’s a sunny Tuesday afternoon, and Johnny’s dressed like he actually paid attention to what he threw on before going out. Like he cared. Like he tried, and—

Ugh.

Fucking Johnny.

Finally, _finally_ , lunch ends. Daniel barely notices, shaking hands on autopilot, agreeing to call about… something, probably important, and he’ll regret not paying more attention to that, but not until _later_ , so…

So he goes over to Johnny and says, “Date stood you up?” because he’s an idiot, and also—sometimes—a schmuck.

Johnny half-heartedly glances up, and nothing about him suggests that he’s surprised to see Daniel there. After less than a second he goes back to fiddling with the label on his half-empty beer bottle.

For some reason, this really irks Daniel.

“Stupid dating apps,” is all Johnny says in reply, which… Yeah, that mostly explains things.

“You’re using dating apps?” Daniel asks inanely, but he slips into the booth opposite Johnny as he says it, like maybe the question will distract from the action. He’s not completely sure who he’s trying to distract, if he’s honest—Johnny or himself.

“It was Miguel’s idea.” Johnny doesn’t seem all that perturbed by the sudden company he’s acquired, at least. He just keeps thumbing at the label on his beer. “I never should’ve listened to that kid.”

Daniel doesn’t really know what to say to that, so they sit there in uncomfortable silence for a few minutes until a waitress—bless her—comes around to ask if they need anything. Daniel orders himself a martini and Johnny another beer, and he isn’t expecting Johnny to speak once she leaves again, but—

“So, who was the dude with the blond ‘fro?”

Daniel blinks at him for a moment—apparently Johnny _had_ seen him, then—before a strained smile pulls at his lips. “Oh, just some big-wig VP. Dealership business, you wouldn’t be interested.”

Johnny scoffs and pushes his drink away, glass scraping against wood. “He was a real mouthy bastard. Think he’s compensating for something?”

That unwittingly drags a laugh out of Daniel, and instantly the tension between the two of them dissolves. “Definitely.”

— — —

Johnny doesn’t know what makes Daniel decide to join him—he really hopes it isn’t that he just looked so pathetic sitting here alone that pity was aroused in even his oldest rival (were they still rivals?)—but he doesn’t question it too much because he kind of enjoys the company.

They sit and chat for a while, about nothing important—karate is not mentioned even once—and Johnny enjoys his third beer a lot more than he did the previous two. Some interesting realizations may present themselves if he looks into that too closely, so he doesn’t.

They watch the baseball game that’s playing on the TV in the far corner of the room when they don’t have anything to say, and after roughly five minutes Johnny works out that Daniel is a Yankees fan. It’s nearly enough to make him get up and walk out, but…

But not quite.

Neither one of them has really drunk enough to worry about driving home, but Daniel offers him a ride anyway, and Johnny can’t bring himself to refuse. He’ll just have to come back for his car tomorrow.

It’s a little like déjà vu when Daniel turns on the radio and REO Speedwagon starts playing. But there is no antagonism now like there was when they first got into a car together. It’s nice, and it’s easy to let out the chuckle tickling his throat.

He doesn’t miss Daniel’s smile.

They don’t speak on the ride to Johnny’s apartment. Johnny thinks they’re better when they’re not talking, and he ignores how blatantly untrue that is because he doesn’t want to think about their myriad of problems right now. Anyway, if they’re not better, then they’re easier, and for Johnny easier _is_ better.

When they reach the apartment block, Daniel cuts the engine, reaches for his seatbelt, and says, “Let me walk you up.”

Johnny rolls his eyes as he opens the passenger side door. “What, do I get a kiss, too?”

He emphatically ignores the warm, delighted feeling in the pit of his stomach. If he ignores it, it will surely go away.

When they stop in front of his door, Johnny dallies a bit by reaching around in his pocket for his keys. Eventually, he mumbles out an awkward, “Well…” but the _thanks_ gets stuck somewhere in the back of his throat.

Fortunately Daniel isn’t so frozen. “We should do this again, Johnny. I had a good time.”

“Ditto,” Johnny says because he’s never claimed to not be an idiot. There is a single moment where they just stare at each other, and it’s definitely weird and awkward—it’s not just him—but then Daniel nods and starts to turn away.

Before Johnny can stop himself—before he can even take a moment to comprehend what he is doing—he reaches out, grabs Daniel’s hand, and pulls him back in. The kiss lasts less than a second—it is soft and chaste and their lips barely touch—but it leaves Johnny breathless.

By the time his brain has turned back on, he’s already pulled away, murmuring a _sorry_ that he’s not sure Daniel hears and he’s not sure he even means.

Daniel stares at him again, but thankfully the silence doesn’t last too long this time. He squeezes the hand still holding his and then lets Johnny go.

“I’ll see you around,” Daniel says, and his words have no inflection but his eyes are dancing—big, brown, bright, and—

And he leaves Johnny to enter his apartment. Johnny closes the door behind him with a soft _snick_ , slipping off his shoes and undoing his shirt buttons, and all he can think through all of this is— _Yeah. You will._

**Author's Note:**

> please drop a comment if you have a chance! thanks!
> 
> come find me on [tumblr](https://padraigendragon.tumblr.com/)!


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